When I heard our marketing director Heather’s daughters love to help make dinner, I had to know more. After talking with Heather about it, I learned that her girls, Leah (11), Erin (9), and Meredith (7), are each responsible for dinner one night a week. Their dinners have included a wide variety of items, such as lasagna, tacos, spaghetti, frozen waffles, English muffin pizzas, Caesar salad, and more.
So, we decided to invite the girls to the Test Kitchens for a day where they could prepare one of their favorite menu items- Spaghetti Pie. It’s a quick recipe that everyone in the family can help out with. We had a blast making this meal, and chances are your kids at home probably will, too!
First things first, get your oven heating to 375°F, and bring a large pot of water to a boil for cooking the spaghetti.
While the spaghetti was boiling, Leah started cooking the Italian sausage.
Brown the sausage until it is no longer pink. Meredith broke it up into chunks as it cooked.
Once the sausage is browned, drain off the fat. Erin measured 1 cup of purchased spaghetti sauce to add to the sausage.
Stir in the spaghetti sauce and warm it through.
Your pasta should be done at this point- this is a great time to enlist a helper to do the draining for you!
Next, combine ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese…
…1 egg…
…and ¾ cup sour cream.
Stir this mixture together until it is combined.
Then add to the hot, cooked spaghetti.
Now, spread the spaghetti mixture into a 9-inch glass pie plate.
Sprinkle the top of the spaghetti mixture with the remaining ½ cup mozzarella cheese. This was a group effort! A few stray pieces of shredded cheese may have been consumed at this point, as well…
Now, spread the sausage and sauce mixture over the spaghetti and cheese.
Cover the pie plate with aluminum foil…
…and place into the preheated oven.
Since you’ll have 25-35 minutes to spare while the pie is in the oven, it’s the perfect time to go outside and practice your cartwheels!
When you’ve had your fill of gymnastics and the pie is finished baking in the oven, take it out of the oven and sprinkle with ¼ cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Let the pie stand for about 10 minutes to make it easier to cut, and then dig in!
A special thanks to Leah, Erin and Meredith for taking the time to come and cook with me! It was a ton of fun! Give Spaghetti Pie a try for your next dinner, and who knows, maybe it will inspire your family to help make dinner, too.
Check back in a few days when Becky will share a recipe perfect for cooking over a campfire.
Mallory is a Product Specialist in the Test Kitchens at Land O'Lakes and writes for our Recipe Buzz® Blog.